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| Hiking | 7.60 Miles |
1,356 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.60 Miles | 4 Hrs 1 Min | | 2.06 mph |
| 1,356 ft AEG | 20 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | On my way back to Southern AZ from another amazing extended weekend at the MG Lodge, I was planning to knock off Daisy Mountain in Anthem, and possibly Gavilan Peak. Instead, I suddenly found myself taking Exit 259 for Bloody Basin Road… apparently after experiencing the peace and solitude of the Bradshaws / Prescott area, I needed something a bit more remote.
Goat Peak fit the bill perfectly and exceeded my expectations. For one thing, the area was incredibly beautiful… so much so that even the 50 minute, one-way drive [to go the 13-14 miles from I-17 to the take-off point] flew by. Secondly, the hike to the summit of Goat Peak, [particularly the spine-like ridgeline and then going down the North face and contouring back around as I detailed in the Description], was a really fun route… and lastly, my spur-of-the-moment decision to incorporate some additional bushwhacking – and another peak – made this one sweet adventure.
Feeling a like I needed a bit of a wake-up, I actually enjoyed the first mile or so along the jeep road… but that was it! After about a mile, I had enough of road/trail and couldn’t resist turning prematurely from the GPS tracks I had intended to follow. While Goat Peak was obvious at this point, whether or not I would make it there without some major backtracking was not... very shortly after heading off trail, the brush became tall and very thick in many places. Fortunately, the combination of luck, animal routes, and bulldozing my way through thickets whenever possible, soon allowed me to get up onto the spine-like ridgeline.
Ridgeline to summit and back to ridgeline is detailed in my Description… so skipping to the rest of my return trip: I rode the ridgeline back to the jeep road, [which had far less brush and was much more pleasant than my ascent to the ridgeline]. Upon reaching the jeep road, I was planning to for an easy stroll back… but less than a quarter mile later, the urge for more off-trail got the better of me. There was also no way I could pass by this 5,000+ foot peak without paying a visit to the summit. The steep slope, in combination with patches of brush that I need to plow through, definitely kicked my butt… but I had a total blast reaching the summit. Had I not needed to get back to Tucson, I would’ve bagged some of the other nearby 4,500’-5,000’ peaks; but I was already an hour behind schedule. I’ll definitely be doing more hiking/peak bagging in this beautiful area. |
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| God save the Prom Queen, cuz [reality check!] AEG's King...! |
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